How to raise salinity.

[Fsh]

Hi all,

I just bought a Hanna salinity checker and checked both the water I was mixing and the tank water.

For a while I’ve been using a secondhand refractometer, which I’ve never calibrated myself (rookie mistake, I know). I’ve always tested it to ppm, and it’s come up as 1.024 specific gravity. I properly calibrated this checker, and it’s reading at 20ppt (not the 35ppt recommended). Firstly, I’m guessing it’s safe to assume the Hanna checker is correct and that the one I was using before is incorrect? If so how do I raise my salinity? It seems pretty dang low, though, I’ve had no issues (as of yet) with my fish (no coral or inverts in the tank right now). Also what should I be aiming if run ppt?
Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Backreefing]

Just add saltwater as top off water and everything goes Up slowly .

 

[AZMSGT]

I would be double checking the hanna checker too. Take a water sample to your LFS And have them take a reading.

I run 34.5 ppt

 

[ReefLab]

35ppt is what you want. 20ppt is very low. What is your dKH? it would probably be less than 6 if it was actually 20ppt salinity.

 

[Fsh]

That is all,

what salinity should top off water be?

good idea AZMSGT and ReefLab

 

[ReefLab]

That is all,

what salinity should top off water be?

good idea AZMSGT and ReefLab

If it is actually 20ppt, I would mix top off water to 40ppt.

 

[Fsh]

Thanks. What about Salinity for water changes?

 

[AZMSGT]

Yea, you can top off with a slightly stronger mix. But don’t go crazy.. slow and steady wins the race.

 

[AZMSGT]

Thanks. What about Salinity for water changes?

35ppt

 

[Fsh]

What do you think about doing 10% every few days with correct salinity?

 

[AZMSGT]

What do you think about doing 10% every few days with correct salinity?

Once you’re sure the hanna is correct then sure.. since you have no corals that should be fine.
For reference, I had new fish come in and they where at 1.020 and I took a week to raise them to 1.025. It’s not a hurry if everything is fine.

 

[Uncle99]

Until you start with inverts and corals and you run only fish, 1.025-1.026 is not required.
fish only tanks can run at 1.019-1.023, the lower salinity.

Always keep in mind that increases in salinity must be done very slowly, like .002 or less per day.
Decreases can be done easily in half a day.

 

[dadnjesse]

I would get a second opinion on the Salinity number before reacting.

 

[chvvkumar]

Here's what I do. But do get your Hanna checked for accuracy once.

Take the salinity of your tank and plug it into this calculator:

Direct Salt Addition Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Estimate the amount of solid salt required to raise salinity to a target level.

www.hamzasreef.com

For example, if your current salinity is 20ppt and your tank water volume is 40 gallons (an example) you will need to add 6.2lb of salt to the appropriate amount of water and SLOWLY add it to your tank: